Top 5 Benefits of Mindfulness for Healthcare Providers
Modern conversation is dominated by discussion of the benefits of mindfulness in the healthcare industry. The implications are that not only can “being in the present moment” help us feel more in control of our days, lives, even careers but, it can help us take better care of our patients as well. Unfortunately, we are constantly distracted by email, social media, text messages, or, just as easily, by our own thoughts.
As a physician coach, I’ve seen first-hand how mindfulness can can have a major positive impact on physicians and other healthcare professionals. A popular misconception about mindfulness is that it is equal to spirituality, that it is the ability to completely clear our mind of all thoughts, or worse, an unequivocal detachment from life and the world around you. Instead mindfulness is simply complete awareness: being present with what’s going on in one’s life with kind awareness, questioning thoughts and assumptions, replacing judgement with compassion, and moving beyond preconceptions. In the healthcare industry, we become so focused on what needs to be done that we forget to simply be.
So how can mindfulness help physicians and other healthcare providers in general? Here are 5 benefits:
1. Mindfulness helps doctors achieve calm
Often our minds spin wildly, jumping from thought to thought. The swirl of thoughts can be like the torrent of a waterfall. We try to focus on a task and our mind goes to an argument we had that morning, a recent text, or how guilty we feel for eating those 3 additional scoops of ice cream last night. When we aren’t ruminating about the past, we fixate on a concern about the future, and anxieties and worries take hold. Even if there are no current stressors, our thoughts can take us into a downward spiral driving fear, rumination, and distress.
Mindfulness helps us realize that thoughts are simply thoughts, not reality.
Instead of being swept away by the waterfall, we learn to watch it from the comfort of the water bank. Creating some distance from our thoughts frees us from being trapped by them and allows us to access a natural calm and ease.
2. Mindfulness can help physicians improve their relationships
Despite being physically present with loved ones, it’s easy for our minds to be elsewhere. Often we stew about a meeting we have to plan for or replay a tense conversation with our boss, missing what’s in front of us. Mentally living in another moment, we can see our partner or children as the annoying distraction. We find ourselves impatient and short-tempered.
When we’re in the present moment, we detach from past experiences and future worries and give our full attention to those we’re interacting with. Drifting from the now is inevitable, but we can note this and gently return to the present. We all know how good it feels to interact with someone fully invested in us at that moment, and others immediately sense when we’re fully there with them. Staying in the present, we often find that it’s easier for others to join us there.
3. Living in the present allows for a broader perspective
When we’re in the mindless mode, we develop tunnel vision. We become stuck in a fixed reality that we have assumed to be true. Watching the world through this clouded lens, we have difficulty simply seeing and appreciating what is. Often times the way we see a problem can, in fact, be our problem, and part of being mindful is being open to challenging our own assumptions. One of the cornerstones of mindfulness is a quality of open awareness and curiosity. When we become inquisitive about a problem and question our assumptions, we see options that were previously outside of our field of view.
In addition, by shifting our focus to the present moment the magnitude of our problems begin to shrink. Right here, right now, it’s likely that our needs are being met, our health is manageable, and we can meet the challenges we face.
4. Mindfulness can help healthcare workers be more ressourceful
What if you could focus on what is rather than how you think things should be? Releasing expectations about your situation allows you to take action from where you actually stand. If you know what you’re facing, as opposed to an altered version of it, it’s likely that you’ll have more clarity. You’ll be able to see what the real constraints are and where there are openings for change. And all that energy that you’re putting into wishing things were different can be harnessed to take action with what actually is.
When you stay in the present moment, there is more available to you to come to a solution. You can then respond wisely and in a fully informed manner, rather than reacting blindly. You develop the superpower of conscious clarity. Watch this light animation of Dan Harris explaining how practicing mindfulness can be a superpower.
In this video, I explain what mindfulness is and how it can be applied to help physicians achieve their highest potential and lift them out of the detrimental cycle that can lead to burnout.
5. Mindfulness helps foster confidence and creativity
When we focus on what’s actually going on right now, we shed comparisons with others, harsh judgments about ourselves, and our analysis of our circumstances. All of these thoughts sap our natural creativity, and besides being overly-critical, they are rarely accurate.
When we live in the present moment, our attention is focused on what we’re experiencing and instead of getting caught up in negative self-talk; we can simply note it and move on. We leave rigid ways of understanding our experience behind. This flexibility clears room for new thoughts and ideas, and the results are often a rush of creativity.
Integrating mindfulness practices into our lives provides a multitude of benefits: we spend more time in the here and now, we experience less anxiety and more calm, and we enjoy deeper and more meaningful relationships. We reduce the tendency toward tunnel vision and see more options and choices, and this helps us feel less trapped by our circumstances. And we remove barriers that stifle our creativity and confidence.
It’s easy to get absorbed in our email, phones, and the most recent text message. Just as easily we get lost in our own internal thoughts. When you find yourself distracted, worried, or anxious, take a few minutes to bring your attention to your breath. It’s a sure-fire way to access the present moment.
Learn How to Be Mindful Within the Present
If you’d like to learn practical tricks to develop more mindfulness and develop greater balance, download my free guide From Burnout to Balance: 10 Steps You Can Take Today. In this guide, you’ll be given 10 tools to better manage the most common afflictions physicians are faced with today from shedding guilt, to overcoming the Imposter Syndrome and make time to reenergize.
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